Jules Merrill Blattner (February 8, 1941 – June 7, 2019) was an American

rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It originated from African-American music such as jazz, rhythm an ...

singer, guitarist, songwriter and bandleader.

Life and career

Born in

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, whic ...

, Blattner studied at

Affton High School Affton High School is a public comprehensive high school in Affton, St. Louis County, Missouri that is part of the Affton School District. History The first high school classes in Affton were offered in 1930 at 8701 Mackenzie Road in the ba ...

. He organized his first group, Jules Blattner and the Teen Tones, in 1956. Reputedly the first white rock and roll band in St. Louis, they performed regularly at high school dances and in local shows over the next few years. In 1959, Blattner recorded his first single, "Rock & Roll Blues", for the local

Bobbin A bobbin or spool is a spindle or cylinder, with or without flanges, on which yarn, thread, wire, tape or film is wound. Bobbins are typically found in industrial textile machinery, as well as in sewing machines, fishing reels, tape measures ...

record label. Regarded by Bruce Eder at

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the dat ...

as "a classic of late-era

rockabilly Rockabilly is one of the earliest styles of rock and roll music. It dates back to the early 1950s in the United States, especially the Southern United States, South. As a genre it blends the sound of Western music (North America), Western music ...

", it reached the local charts but failed to break nationally. Blattner and his band supported stars such as

Brenda Lee Brenda Mae Tarpley (born December 11, 1944), known professionally as Brenda Lee, is an American singer. Performing rockabilly, pop and country music, she had 47 US chart hits during the 1960s and is ranked fourth in that decade, surpassed only ...

the Isley Brothers The Isley Brothers ( ) are an American musical group originally from Cincinnati, Ohio, that began as a vocal trio consisting of brothers O'Kelly Isley Jr., Rudolph Isley and Ronald Isley in the 1950s. With a career spanning over seven decade ...

and

Little Richard Richard Wayne Penniman (December 5, 1932 – May 9, 2020), known professionally as Little Richard, was an American musician, singer, and songwriter. He was an influential figure in popular music and culture for seven decades. Described as the " ...

when they did shows in the area, and he released a second single, "Teen Town", but again failed to achieve nationwide success. Biography by Bruce Eder, ''Allmusic.com''
Retrieved 19 September 2019
Retrieved 19 September 2019 In the early 1960s he recorded for the K-Ark label in

Nashville Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and t ...

, and changed the band name, first to the Twist Tones and then to the Jules Blattner Group. As resident bandleader at the Butterscotch Lounge in St Louis, he recorded his own song, "Butterscotch Twist", which was included on the compilation LP, ''A Musical Tour of Gaslight Square''. Blattner also recorded several singles for the local Norman label, and released a version of

Chuck Berry Charles Edward Anderson Berry (October 18, 1926 – March 18, 2017) was an American singer, songwriter and guitarist who pioneered rock and roll. Nicknamed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Father of Rock and Roll", he refined a ...

's " No Money Down" as a single on

Coral Records Coral Records was a subsidiary of Decca Records that was formed in 1949. Coral released music by Patsy Cline, Buddy Holly, the McGuire Sisters and Teresa Brewer. Coral issued jazz and swing music in the 1940s, but after Bob Thiele became head ...

. In 1965, he and his band recorded tracks in Chicago with Chuck Berry, which appeared on Berry's LP '' Chuck Berry in London''. The songs included a reworking of "Butterscotch Twist", credited to Berry as "Butterscotch". Blattner and his band performed regularly in St Louis, and in

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only ...

during the winter season. He also recorded for the Tee Pee label. He relocated to California, and was recruited by the

USO The United Service Organizations Inc. (USO) is an American nonprofit-charitable corporation that provides live entertainment, such as comedians, actors and musicians, social facilities, and other programs to members of the United States Armed F ...

to perform in

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making it ...

, where his tour in early 1968 coincided with the

Tet Offensive The Tet Offensive was a major escalation and one of the largest military campaigns of the Vietnam War. It was launched on January 30, 1968 by forces of the Viet Cong (VC) and North Vietnamese People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) against the force ...

. After returning to the US, Blattner formed a new band in

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

, which eventually took the name Jules Blattner and the Warren Groovy All-Star Band, and released several further singles on local labels. In 1971, the Jules Blattner Group released an album on

Buddah Records Buddah Records (later known as Buddha Records) was an American record label founded in 1967 in New York City. The label was born out of Kama Sutra Records, an MGM Records-distributed label, which remained a key imprint following Buddah's foundi ...

, ''Call Me Man!'', followed by ''Back On The Road Again'' in 1972. He also recorded a

concept album A concept album is an album whose tracks hold a larger purpose or meaning collectively than they do individually. This is typically achieved through a single central narrative or theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, or lyrical. So ...

''The Mishtabula Maine Marching Band and Soil Salvation Society'', credited to Seluj Renttalb (Blattner's name spelled backwards) and issued by

MGM Records MGM Records was a record label founded by the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film studio in 1946 for the purpose of releasing soundtrack recordings (later LP albums) of their musical films. It transitioned into a pop music label that continued into the ...

. The album is described as "a ' Sergeant Pepper' style release, complete with folk music influences and a talking children choir, for the flower power generation". Other albums followed, including ''Back to the Basics'' (1979). After the commercial failure of his recordings, Blattner retired from music for several years, re-emerging in the 1980s as a live performer in the St Louis area, Florida and elsewhere. In 1992, he was voted Best Local Rock & Roll Artist in a newspaper poll, and released the album ''Jump On This''. He retired from performing in 2003. His early recordings were reissued on several compilations of rockabilly music, and in 2004 a compilation CD of his recordings was released by the German label Hydra. Blattner died in 2019, aged 78, from

amyotrophic lateral sclerosis Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as motor neuron disease (MND) or Lou Gehrig's disease, is a neurodegenerative disease that results in the progressive loss of motor neurons that control voluntary muscles. ALS is the most comm ...

. Thomas Crone, "Remembering Jules Blattner", ''St Louis Mag'', June 17, 2019
Retrieved 20 September 2019

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Blattner, Jules 1941 births 2019 deaths American rockabilly musicians Musicians from St. Louis Bobbin Records artists Buddah Records artists MGM Records artists